Google has made a $68.2m offer for Global IP Solutions (GIPS), the VoIP and Video over IP specialist. The offer price represents a premium of 142.1 per cent over the closing share price of GIPS stock (adjusted for the rights issue in GIPS completed in March 2010) on 11 January 2010, the last trading day prior to GIPS making a public announcement of strategic interest from a potential buyer; and a premium of 27.5 per cent compared to the closing share price on 14 May, 2010, the last trading day prior to the Google’s public announcement of its intention to make the offer. 

“The web is evolving quickly as a development platform, and real-time video and audio communication over the internet are becoming important new tools for users,” says Google engineering director, Rian Liebenberg. “GIPS’s technology provides high quality, real-time audio and video over an IP network, and we’re looking forward to working with the GIPS team at Google to continue innovating for the web platform.”

GIPS CEO Emerick Woods describes the acquisition as: “an exciting milestone for GIPS as we join Google with a shared vision to transform and accelerate IP communications. With Google’s global reach, scale and widely recognized leadership, we are confident that our existing customers will continue to be fully supported while we continue to enhance and extend our products and technology at Google.”

The GIPS board is recommending that shareholders accept the offer. It adds that some major shareholders, including Kistefos Venture Capital AS and Kistefos Venture Capital II DA, have “irrevocably committed to accept the offer” with respect to approximately 50 per cent of the outstanding shares and votes of GIPS.
Earlier this year, GIPS announced the availability of video chat technology for iPhone developers to incorporate video conferencing and video chat into their mobile applications.